Gigs-A-Go-Go

I have been to two gigs in the last week, both in churches. Maybe I should have titled this post Gigs-a-God-God. Then again maybe not.

Last Saturday we were at St John's in London's leafy Leytonstone for a lunchtime show to mark Midsummer. It was a triple header. First up was Lucine Musaelian with her viola de gamba and some baroque and Armenian folk tunes, and last up were The Memory Band. I enjoyed them both.

But it was the woman in between who were mainly there to see - Lisa Knapp. She did not disappoint. I first saw her taking part in an all star Bert Jansch tribute back in 2013, around the time of her fine second album "Hidden Seam". Her follow-up album in 2017 was a collection of May songs and given the time of year she drew quite heavily on it during her set, including today's selection.

On Wednesday it was off to St. Pancras Old Church in London's... (you can probably work that bit out for yourself) to see Kassi Valazza on the opening night of a very brief European tour. She is over here to promote her new album "From Newman Street", a copy of which I picked up at the gig. I've not had a chance to listen to it yet but judging by the songs she played on Wednesday it is well up to the standard she set on "Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing" (from which today's track comes).

How much she really knows is hard to judge. It may just have been the jetlag but she wasn't what you would call a Chatty Kassi. Not that it mattered. Together with her band she put on a very good show with a fine selection of songs from across her career to date. As an unexpected bonus they galloped through "Matty Groves" as an encore. Obviously nobody can match Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson but they gave it a bloody good go.

"Padstow May Song" - Lisa Knapp

"Rapture" - Kassi Valazza

"Matty Groves" - Fairport Convention